Use gplus.to to Shorten Your Google+ Profile Link and Get A Vanity URL [How-To]

Since Google+ has been opened to the public, many users have wondered just when Google will allow them to set usernames (similar to Facebook vanity URLs). Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites like to shorten URLs and make it easier for people to find one another. So far, when you create a Google+ profile, you are given an incredibly long number to link to your profile. This can be cumbersome and downright annoying when trying to find someone easily on Google+.

“gplus.to” is a service that allows you to create a nickname and link to your Google+ profile with a much shorter URL. While this is not officially sanctioned by Google, and they will most likely add their own feature in time to do this, for now this can be a much easier way to share your Google+ profile link with others.

If you look at the URL to your Google+ profile, you will see a long line of numbers within it. This is your Google+ ID. You want to copy and paste that, then head back to gplus.to’s web site.

You can now enter your Google+ ID into the textbox, then click “Add.”

If successful, a little green box will appear letting you know your new Google+ link.

If you click on it, you will be re-directed to your Google+ profile.

Maybe down the line you want to change your nickname, some social networks let you do that more than once. Others, like Facebook, only let you change it once if it at all. gplus.to will let you update your nickname through their site.

Click on the “Update Nick Name” link at the bottom of their website.

This will require you to give access to information from your Google+ profile and Google Services to gplus.to to verify you are a human being and not a program trying to change your username.

Click “Allow” to continue.

Enter in your new nickname and the CAPTCHA that appears, then click “Update My Username.”

You will receive confirmation that your Google+ profile link has been updated. Click “Close This Window” to exit the pop up.

Now, if you type the new gplus.to URL, you will be redirected to your Google+ profile instantly.

This is a quick way to shorten your Google+ profile URL and make it easier to share your social networking with others until Google implements its own way to do this.

When will Google+ let you choose your own profile name?Google has slowly been releasing, updating and tweaking features for its social network. While there has been no official word on when and how users will be able to secure profile names, there is no way Google would not let users do this. Since every other social network on the Internet lets users pick their own username, Google would be absurd to ignore this as their social network continues to grow. For now, gplus.to offers a viable alternative for associating your Google+ profile with a username you have come to be known as over the web.